these ties tie you and I
by vivelatinarv
Summary: Leo is stubborn, but Takumi refuses to see Leo in yet another boring black shirt and forces Leo on a clothes shopping excursion.


**AN: Annnd I am back with another Leo + Takumi fic! Hooray! I tried a different writing style + subject matter this time around.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Something Takumi noted about Leo was his abysmal fashion sense. He'd seen the blond prince many times during the war, and whenever he wasn't wearing armor Leo was donned in yet another pair of black pants and a black long sleeve. Every, single, time.

It never really bothered Takumi if he had to be honest, but as he watched Leo unpack his belongings into the guest room where he'd be staying for the next few weeks, the long-haired prince realized just how little variety his Nohrian friend had in terms of fashion.

"Hey Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever wear anything other than black?"

"I have a white shirt, and I wore a purple shirt the other day."

"Yeah, like _one_ white shirt. And are you talking about that shirt I thought was black until I looked closer and realized it was actually just dark purple?"

"...Yes."

Takumi sighed.

"Sheesh, does everyone in Nohr wear dark clothes all the time?"

"Nohrian fashion does not just consist of dark colors, I assure you." Leo said. "Since when were _you_ such a fashion prick anyway?"

"Nah, I don't really care much about it," Takumi said before gesturing to the pile of dark clothes on the futon. "You just wear _a lot_ of black."

Leo shrugged. "I like dark colors."

"Don't you get hot?" Takumi asked.

"I'm used to it. And Nohr isn't very warm anyway."

"Hoshido isn't Nohr though. You'll be staying here for a while. It's summer and you're going to sweat if you're decked out in black all day. Hmm..." Takumi said. He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his arm, staring at the ground in thought.

Leo stared at Takumi, cocking an eyebrow when the archer snapped his head up suddenly.

"I got it!"

"Hm?"

"I have an idea. Come with me."

"Huh? Wh-" Was all Leo got out before Takumi grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the guest room.

Takumi led Leo down the hall and slid the door to his room open. Still gripping the blonde's arm tight, Takumi pulled him in front of the large closet on the other side of the room.

With his free hand, Takumi opened the closet and revealed his collection of Hoshidan clothing. "You can borrow some of my clothes while you're here. We're pretty similar in size, so I'm sure it'd be fine."

Leo stepped forward to examine Takumi's clothes. He reached to the long dress-like thing hanging at the far right of the closet, and from there picked through the outfits in order.

"A lot of these are pretty old, but they're still in good condition. I think you'd look great in them! Clothing here in Hoshido is a lot looser than what you have in Nohr and we have a lot of light colored things, so they're perfect for wearing in hot weather-"

"No thank you."

Takumi gaped. "What? Why?"

"I'm just not very accustomed to Hoshidan attire. They're really long like...dresses," Leo noted, grimacing.

"Hey, they're called yukata and they're not like the dresses women wear in Nohr. Over here, yukata are worn my men and women every day." Takumi crossed his arms and pouted.

"My apologies, Prince Takumi, but I'm just not one for walking around Hoshido draped in a bath towel like thing."

"Ugh, fine! If you don't like what I have then I'm taking you out to buy something," Takumi said. He yanked at Leo's arm again and led him out of his room and to the castle exit.

He was going to make Leo wear something light, colorful and Hoshidan whether he liked it or not.

* * *

"I still fail to understand why you're forcing me to buy new clothes when I already have some of my clothes from Nohr," Leo grumbled as Takumi dragged him through the market.

"Yeesh, you think I'll be able to stand seeing you in a black shirt every day that you're here? Yeah, no, you're getting something new," Takumi said.

"You do realize that even if you buy me something, I'll be wearing my usual clothes most of the time anyway."

"Yeah yeah, _whatever,_ " Takumi said, looking away from Leo to glance around the market.

The market was bright with energy as it always was at this time of day. People crowded all around the multiple stores set up across the market, and all seemed to be enjoying themselves despite the summer heat.

Unlike _someone,_ Takumi mentally noted.

Leo had that same frown he always had on, and it wouldn't have bothered Takumi had Leo not seemed so contrastively _dead_ to the mass of excited people around them.

The two princes walked by a clothing store with yukatas on display. Takumi tugged Leo's arm and pointed to the store excitedly. "Hey Leo! How about we check this store over he-"

"No thanks."

Takumi frowned in disappointment.

They walked by another clothing store.

"How about-"

"No."

Takumi groaned, but continued pulling Leo through the crowd.

They walked by another clothing store which, unlike the other ones, had some baggy pants on display. _If Leo doesn't like yukata, then maybe-_ "Hey Leo, this store sells pants, maybe we could-"

"No."

Takumi growled in frustration. "Oh come on, what's wrong with the pants?!"

"They're too baggy, like all Hoshidan clothes seem to be. I feel much more comfortable in the form fitting clothing I usually wear."

"Ugh, fine, we can find a seamstress to make something customized for you since you're just _so reluctant_ to try anything new," Takumi said.

The air between the two of them was becoming more awkward by the second. Even so, Takumi continued to pull Leo along, glancing around the market less excitedly than he had been before.

Takumi's eyes settled on another clothing store.

It looked similar to the other clothing stores he'd seen in the market. Small but neatly kept, and like the other stores had various articles of clothing on display for people to see.

"Hello there!" A woman called out from inside the store.

Takumi glanced towards the woman and, to his surprise, saw her looking in his direction.

"Hello. Um, you're the owner of this store, right?" Takumi asked her.

"Why, yes I am! And you are Prince Takumi, correct?"

"Yes, I am," Takumi said.

The woman smiled. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes, actually. You see, I came to the market in hopes of finding something nice for my friend to wear," Takumi said, lightly pulling Leo's arm. "He's not from around here, and his fashion sense is horrendously abysmal as a result."

Leo glared at Takumi. "My style is _not_ horrendous. He just doesn't see the appeal in dark clothes like I do, and he takes offense in the fact that I, like any normal person, prefer my usual choices of attire over anything unfamiliar."

Takumi turned and glared back at Leo. He held his glare for a moment before turning away and shifting his attention back to the woman. "I wanted to buy him something authentically Hoshidan. He'll be staying here for a few weeks, so I thought it'd be good for him. He doesn't seem to like how loose our clothing is compared to his though, and he just really _really_ likes dark colors apparently. It's all he ever wears."

The woman looked at Leo. "Sir, are you from Nohr by any chance?"

Leo eyes widened a bit, before returning to their original state. "...Yes, I am."

"I thought so. Just a moment please," the woman said, before turning to walk back inside her store. Raising a piece of cloth, she stooped underneath the fabric of her tent and went to the back of her shop.

Leo and Takumi turned to each other in surprise. They shifted their attention back to the woman when she returned from the back of the store, pushing a clothing rack towards them.

The woman positioned the rack in front of Leo. "Here, Sir. Why don't you look at what I have here?"

Still surprised, Leo replied. "Um, alright then." He picked through the different clothes hanging on the rack before pausing suddenly.

"Miss, you sell Nohrian clothing?"

"Why yes I do!" The woman replied with a smile.

"Wait, really?" Takumi said. He leaned over to where Leo was checking through the rack's contents.

On the rack were dress pants not unlike the ones Leo owned, some ruffled shirts like the ones he often saw King Xander wearing when he wasn't in his armor, vests like the one he saw Leo wear to Ryouma's coronation; things Takumi never expected to find in a Hoshidan clothing store.

The woman turned to Leo. "I got these when I visited Nohr a few weeks ago. I never thought much of it before, but you Nohrians actually have a very unique fashion sense. It's not what we're used to here in Hoshido, but I quite like it."

Leo rested both of his hands on top of the rack. "I'm quite surprised, Miss. I never thought I'd see someone from Hoshido so interested in Nohrian culture."

"Well, to be honest, I," The woman continued on in a softer voice. "I was scared, at first, to give Nohr a chance. We've spent so many years with Nohr as our enemy. We were reluctant to speak of them, much more engage in their culture. But, that's changing now thanks to the peace treaty, isn't it?"

"For so many years, there was so much hatred between Hoshido and Nohr. But despite this, the Nohrian royal family did everything they could to help Hoshido recover from the war after it was over. We didn't expect it. That level of kindness, we didn't expect it from Nohr." The woman turned to face Leo. "I decided to give Nohr a second chance. Even though I'd been afraid, even despite the history between us and them I decided to visit Nohr and see the kind of kingdom it really is. And Nohr truly is a lovely place. I never would've guessed, but Nohrian culture is so lovely and unique and I only wish I'd known before."

The woman bowed to Leo. "It would be an honour if you gave our culture a chance as well."

Takumi stared at Leo as he waited for him to respond.

"...You know what? Would you mind if I looked through your wares?" Leo asked.

Takumi gasped in delight. "You're actually going to look? Alright! Now I can-"

"If it's alright with you, would you mind if I looked in the back? Away from him?"

"What?!" Takumi exclaimed.

The woman giggled. "Of course. Right this way." She lifted the entrance to the back of the store, inviting Leo to enter.

"B-but I'm supposed to-"

"Just wait right there, Takumi. I'll be back before long, try not to miss me too much," Leo said.

Takumi stood there sputtering as the woman sealed the pathway, whispering a tiny apology to her prince as she did.

* * *

It was about ten minutes before Leo finally finished. Takumi had tried listening in to the conversation Leo and the woman were having in the back, but he couldn't hear them very well (Leo was definitely whispering so he couldn't hear, jerk) so Takumi had no idea what to expect when Leo returned from the back of the shop.

Whatever he was expecting, it definitely wasn't this.

Leo came out of the shop wearing a long burgundy yukata. It was authentically Hoshidan, with light pink sakura designs decorating one half of the yukata and a light brown obi tied around his waist.

Takumi couldn't deny to himself that Leo actually looked quite beautiful in it.

Leo smirked as Takumi stood there speechless, his mouth agape.

"So, what do you think?" Leo asked.

"Y-you..." Takumi stuttered. "...You're not wearing any pants."

Leo blinked. "Haha, I guess I'm not." He turned to the woman. "Thank you very much," Leo said, paying her for the yukata. "I'll make sure to wear this while I'm here in Hoshido."

"No, thank _you._ Take care now, alright?" The woman said.

"We will. Takumi, take this," Leo said before tossing his leather bag into Takumi's hands.

"Wh-what's this?" Takumi sputtered.

"My clothes. Now let's go," Leo said as he turned to leave, but not before waving a final farewell to the woman.

The two were already a distance away from the shop when Takumi said "You look surprisingly good in that."

"Why thank you. I noticed you staring at me before, you know," Leo smirked.

"Sh-shut up. You're not even wearing the slippers that are supposed to go with it."

"They're in my bag. I decided not to wear them for now, I probably wouldn't be able to get back to the castle if I did..."

The two walked in silence for a moment, before Takumi broke it. "I thought you didn't want to wear Hoshidan clothing."

"Well, I decided to give it a try. What that woman said got to me." Leo turned to look at Takumi. "And wearing a bath towel for just a little while wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Takumi could practically hear the smirk on Leo's face. "At least you're not wearing any black. I swear I'll get you to stop wearing black by the time you leave."

"Haha, just try it."

* * *

 **"And healing can only begin with trust."**


End file.
